The mother and son duo Maria & Micheal Hrynenko, 56 and 30 years old, respectively, have been indicted in a Manhattan gas explosion that killed two people last year. The Palisades natives are two of six people indicted and charged with manslaughter criminally negligent homicide, and assault, and other things. The group set up an illegal gas-delivery system that resulted in the fire.

Mets pitcher receives “lifetime ban” from baseball

Twenty-six year old Jenrry Mejia became the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to receive a lifetime ban for his use of performance enhancing drugs. Mejia was a relief pitcher for the NY Mets and this is his third time testing positive for performance enhancing drugs in less than a year. He can apply for reinstatement in one year but must miss at least two baseball seasons.

Venezuelan economic collapse a canary in the coal mine for global economy

Venezuela is currently in the midst of an economic and humanitarian crisis. With a poverty rate of 76 percent and an inflation rate set to rise from 275 – 720 percent, the country is on the fast track for disaster. Basic necessities like food and medicine are also becoming more and more scarce with grocery store lines out the door and rapidly emptying shelves.

Red Raider Lady Bowling team strikes again

Team spirit brought the North Rockland girls bowling team their 12th consecutive section one title. The girls will be moving on to the state championships on Mar. 5 at AMF Airport Lanes in Buffalo. Individual state championships will take place on Mar. 6.

Foodtown replaces Valley Cottage A&P

Valley Cottage residents will soon be given a new community supermarket. After the local A&P closed at the end of 2015 many residents had to travel into New City or West Nyack for their shopping. Small business owners are grateful for the incoming supermarket with hopes it might draw in more customers.

As for shoppers in the community, they remain content that a local grocery store will come back, but some mentioned they wanted specifically a Trader Joes. A community movement dedicated to “Bringing Trader Joe’s to Valley Cottage” changed its Facebook group name to “Bringing Trader Joe’s to Rockland County” after the Foodtown announcement was made.

Monsey company purchases Minisceongo

The Minisceongo Golf Club has recently been purchased by a Monsey based company. Eric Bergstol sold the majority of the property to Mount Ivy LLC for $32 million last month. The Mount Ivy LLC is located in Monsey at the same address as Congregation Ribnitz Binyan Torah, a local religious organization. It has not yet been made clear what will be done with the Minisceongo property.

Christian Arab targeted by Muslim in Ohio

A bloody hate crime took place at a restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. A Muslim immigrant from Africa attacked patrons of Hany Baransi’s restaurant, the Christian-Arab Isreali owner. At least four people were wounded leaving one in critical condition. Attacker, Mohammed Barry had been faintly on the FBI’s radar and officials are not yet sure whether he is of Somali or Guinea descent. Columbus, Ohio has the second largest Somali-American community in the U.S.

The NYPD has been suing communities within New York who hire officers from their department within three years of their graduating police academy, Verizon FIOS reported this week. The NYPD’s contention is that the neighborhoods should compensate the NYPD for the training costs of such new hires. FIOS said state municipal law indicated that “…such employer municipal corporation or employer county sheriff shall reimburse the prior employer municipal corporation for such expenses, including, salary, tuition, enrollment fees, books, and the cost of transportation to and from training school.”